as in oppressed
suffering grave abuse or injustice at the hands of one in authority
a war that was supposed to liberate the downtrodden citizens of that nation
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Recent Examples of downtrodden
Tapping the engineer behind Johnny Cash renditions of Soundgarden and Glenn Danzig tunes casts Childers’s stories of downtrodden Americans in a new light.
—
Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
The exuberant Daniels was much more downtrodden, and there seemed to be many thoughts running through his mind.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 28 Nov. 2025
Not in any way, uh, a downtrodden victim.
—Deborah Unger, Scientific American, 5 Nov. 2025
Much of her derision is reserved for Joe (Adam Godley), her downtrodden husband and more pragmatic partner-in-crime.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for downtrodden
Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
The exuberant Daniels was much more downtrodden, and there seemed to be many thoughts running through his mind.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 28 Nov. 2025
Not in any way, uh, a downtrodden victim.
—Deborah Unger, Scientific American, 5 Nov. 2025
Much of her derision is reserved for Joe (Adam Godley), her downtrodden husband and more pragmatic partner-in-crime.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for downtrodden
Recent Examples of Synonyms for downtrodden
oppressed
Adjective
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Al-Mousawi, of the historically oppressed Shia Muslim faith, was previously detained and had served about 11 years as a political prisoner following arrests across the region in the wake of the Arab Spring, said Alwadaei of BIRD.—
Jane Lytvynenko,
NBC news,
17 Apr. 2026
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Dahl had no record of support for other minority, oppressed or marginalized group.—
Alan M. Dershowitz,
New York Daily News,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Downtrodden.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/downtrodden. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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